Di Luca wins Giro stage 4

Columbia’s Lovkvist takes the maglia rosa

Tuesday’s first mountain stage provided an interesting antipasti of who’s going to be the main attraction in this centenary Giro d’Italia.

Danilo Di Luca (LPR), the 2007 Giro champion, sprinted to victory ahead of 2000 Giro winner Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) out of an elite group of about 40 riders to remind everyone that he’s still a force to reckon with.

“The Giro started the same way as two years ago, when I won stage 4 and then the overall. It was not easy to win today, but it was a relatively easy climb,” Di Luca said. “I am still as explosive as I was two years ago, but it will be difficult to win. The level of the Giro this year is super high. All the world’s best riders are here, except Contador.”

Wednesday’s stage, 125 km (67 miles) from San Martino di Castrozza – Alpe di Siusi/Seiseralm, is another short stage, this time concluding with a long climb to the Alpe di Siusi summit.

Despite Di Luca’s 20-second time bonus, Swedish rider Thomas Lovkvist snagged the pink jersey after trailing across the line seventh to bring the maglia rosa back to Columbia-Highroad.

Overnight leader Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) trailed in with the gruppetto at 19:50 back, but Lovkvist had just enough of a cushion to prevent LPR from passing the jersey to Di Luca by two seconds.

“I’ve won a few races, but having the maglia rosa is one of the best days of my career,” said Lovkvist. “Every thing is possible. I am in good condition and I will try. There’s another hilltop finish tomorrow. If I am there, I am there, we’ll see at the top of the climb.”

The major pre-race favorites stepped up and delivered in the first of six summit finishes in the 2009 Giro.

A six-man breakaway pulled clear early and Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) was the last man standing, caught in the closing kilometers to set up the battle between the GC contenders.

The 10km drag up the San Martino di Castrozzo climb wasn’t long enough nor steep enough to provide ideal terrain for attacks from the favorites.[nid:91959]

Liquigas, LPR and Astana kept the pace in the group of about 40 riders that included only one Garmin-Slipstream rider, Bradley Wiggins.

The pack fractured in the closing two kilometers when Colombian condor Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finally broke the stalemate and bolted away in a bid for victory, just a day after he played a controversial role in the frightening crash that marred Monday’s finale (see below).

Di Luca opened up his sprint with about 350 meters to go and caught Soler with 200 meters to the line. Garzelli was the bride’s maid while Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) crossed the line third.

Levi on track, LA hangs tough

Well-protected by Astana, Levi Leipheimer crossed the line sixth in the front group of 16 while Lance Armstrong eased off the gas in the final 500 meters to finish 32nd at 15 seconds back in his first major mountain stage since retiring in 2005.

Armstrong toweled down at the finish line and donned a jacket before riding down to the Astana team bus waiting at the valley floor.

“I am happy with my performance of today. This was my first big climb since retiring. I had a good feeling and no collarbone pain at all,” Armstrong said in a team release. “We finished with a big group and I lost 15 seconds, but that is not so much. Moreover, I needed to make an adjustment to the derailleur. Of course, it was not a very difficult climb. For Di Luca it was a perfect finish with the gradual climb.”

Astana teammate Chris Horner has been assigned the job of guiding Leipheimer through the stages and did excellent work to keep Leipheimer within striking distance, now fifth at 26 seconds back.

“The last climb wasn’t super steep,” Horner said. “The pace was pretty regulare, steady the whole time. The finish was a little harder in the last K, punching with the accelerations. In general, the day was pretty smooth. None of the favorites were going to go. It doesn’t seem like anyone wants the jersey at this point of the race. My job was to stay with Levi. Levi was fantastic today, as always.”

First taste of mountains

The two-climb, 162km stage started in the flats in Padova and finished deep in the heart of the spectacular Dolomites for the first of a pair of climbing stages that saw the GC contenders play their first cards.

The group built a lead of over seven minutes, but after the difficult mid-race Croce d’Aune climb, the break was trimmed to just three men, Voigt, Bellotti and De Bonis.

The threesome entered the final climb with less than a three-minute lead over the LPR-led peloton. Most of the overall favorites were visible near the front of the pack, with Liquigas and Lampre also chipping into the chase on the opening kilometers of the climb.

Up front, Voigt powered the break on the opening ramps, gritting his teeth and maintaining hope as the gap steadily came down. De Bonis dropped off and then Voigt attacked Belloti with 7.5km to go.

“I am satisfied with the effort today,” said Belloti. “We have a lot of climbers in this Giro and we’re here to win stages. Today was my chance to get into the breakaway and it went pretty well. The group worked together well, but I ran out of gas halfway up the climb.”

Basso’s Liquigas team led the peloton up to Voigt, who was caught with less than three kilometers to go.

Soler’s shot at redemption

Barloworld’s Soler threw in a vicious attack with 2k to go, quickly opening a 10-second gap, but Liquigas and LPR pulled him back enough for Di Luca to charge past him.

2009 Giro d’Italia, stage 4: Voigt went on one of his trademark solo missions. Sometimes it works …

“I know sometimes I am not the best bike handler in the business, but when I am in the mountains, that is my time to move. I wanted to show that today,” said Soler, who was raised high in the Colombian Andes. “If the finale had been a little steeper, I am sure I would have won. The legs are good. I will keep attacking.”

Soler also denied Web reports that he was attacked by Cavendish following Monday’s stage. Media outlets in Colombia reported that Cavendish pushed Soler at the finish line Monday. Columbia boss Bob Stapleton admitted that Cavendish had some choice words for the slender Colombian rider, but denied any sort of physical contact took place.

“Soler crashed and that caused the big break. Then Soler bumped into Cav’ at the finish when they were waiting to get past the cars. Cav’ informed him of his displeasure,” Stapleton explained with a laugh. “I think there was some finger-waving and some shouting and some colorful language. Soler was probably saying, ‘what are you saying?’ I was right there the whole time, there was nothing like that, not at all.”

Basso ‘tranquilo’

Basso, meanwhile, expressed his satisfaction with the stage.

Back in his first Giro since serving a racing ban for his role in Operación Puerto, the 2006 champ finished in the front group with in eighth and climbed into 11th a 53 seconds back.

“Our plan today was to try to anticipate the sprint from Di Luca, but Soler beat us to the punch and it derailed what we were hoping to do,” Basso said. “The climb today wasn’t steep enough to really make a difference. The most important thing is that I had good legs in my first test with the mountains. Tomorrow is even harder, so I hope to be a protagonist.”

Horner said he sensed the favorites were holding back, especially Basso, who doesn’t want to take the responsibility of the jersey so early.

“I don’t think anyone wants the jersey right now. I mean, I will take it and put it on if they want to give to me, I’ll take it! It’s better not to have it just yet, there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” Horner said. “The climb just wasn’t steep enough. If one of the big guns dropped the hammer there, what were they going to get, 15-20 seconds? They probably wouldn’t even be able to drop a domestique rider like myself, I think everyone was thinking the same thing, hold back and wait for a harder day.”

Rogers foiled, Lovkvist takes over

2009 Giro d’Italia, stage 4: Soler attacked with less than 2k to go, and appeared bound for the win.

Columbia-Highroad was poised to move back into the maglia rosa thanks to its team time trial winning effort on Saturday, starting the day with Michael Rogers and Lovkvist in third and fourth, respectively, at 18 seconds back.

Things were looking rosy for Rogers until the final 600 meters. Damiano Cunego (Lampre) evidently clipped out of his pedals and veered into Rogers’ trajectory. The Aussie was forced to almost come to a complete stop, forcing him to lose position as well as six seconds, enough to keep him out of the pink jersey.

“Cunego was racing like an idiot. He was trying to cut into wheels all day,” an angry Rogers said at the line. “Cunego is racing like a fool. I lost four or five seconds because of that, and the jersey. That’s life.”

Instead of pink, Rogers stayed in third, now at six seconds back.

It’s now Lovkvist who steps center stage. The world will soon discover what Columbia brass has known all along.

A strong time trialist and improving climber, Lovkvist is still 25 and looks to be a GC contender of the future.

“He’s pretty special in my book. I was thrilled when we could get him from FDJeux. He’s blossomed pretty well in the environment here, he’s gotten the chance here and he’s taken advantage,” Stapleton said. “Our biggest challenge is going to be trying to keep all these guys. We’re fully stocked with talent and they’re all really growing.”

Lovkvist promises to try to defend the jersey as long as possible, which might be a plus for Rogers anyway. The Aussie is in fighting form and could be one of the riders the Italians are overlooking when considering the upcoming GC battle.

“We’ll see if I can continue to deliver. I progress every year. Hopefully I can climb a bit better than I have before, we’ll see when I get to Rome where I am. Of course I want to go as far as possible,” Lovkvist said. “I am not going to say to win the Giro or the Tour, but one day I’d like to be on the podium and be a big rider.”

More steeps ahead

Wednesday’s short but explosive 125km fifth stage from San Martino di Castrozza to Alpe di Suisi will produce the first real challenge for the climbers. The 24.9km climb features ramps as steep as 11 percent with an average grade of 6.1 percent.

“Tomorrow we’ll see even more how everyone is because it is a true climb. There will be nowhere to hide,” Di Luca said. “Simoni is the top favorite for tomorrow’s stage. There will be a lot of attacks. Basso will attack for sure and we’ll see a few surprises, perhaps Sastre, who we cannot let him get away.”

Di Luca said the other GC favorites should collaborate to try to make things difficult for Armstrong. The seven-time Tour de France winner is admittedly not in top condition, but will only get stronger as the Giro progresses.

“Armstrong was looking good. Tomorrow we’ll see just how good he is,” Di Luca said. “We have to try to eliminate him. We cannot let him hang around and get stronger. Look what happened last year with Contador. He got stronger as the race went on, we cannot make the same mistake with Armstrong.”

Armstrong — now sixth at 28 seconds back — said he honestly doesn’t know what to expect. Tuesday’s climb was fast but he could pace off his teammates and a group of nearly 40 riders. Wednesday’s summit finish will be every man for himself.

“Basso, Di Luca, Garzelli and Cunego all looked very good. Tomorrow will be a better indication. It will be a long and hard day. We’ll see. I don’t know what to expect,” Armstrong said. “I enjoyed the excited Italian fans. The fans here are great. It’s unexpected but it’s nice to see.”